ELDO/ESRO/ESA: Key dates 1960-2018

1960

1 December - Intergovernmental conference at Meyrin, Switzerland, setting up a European Preparatory Commission for Space Research (COPERS)

1962

29 March - Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Australia (associate member) sign in London the Convention creating the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO)

14 June - Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom sign in Paris the Convention creating the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO). Approval given for ESLAR, an ESRO laboratory for advanced research to be located in Italy (later renamed ESRIN, European Space Research Institute)

1 November - Dr Albert Walter Lines (GB) nominated as Technical Director to head the European space technology centre. Under his authority, Mr A. Kesselring (CH) is named first Director of ESTEC in 1964

1963

1 January - Under Dr Sidney Shapcott (GB), later Director of Projects at ESTEC, planning of the ESTEC facility begins at the Technical University of Delft, Netherlands

1 March - Foundation pile laid for ESTEC in Noordwijk. The first major vacuum test facility is installed on 1 September

1966

1 January - ESRIN is formed in Frascati, Italy. Staff are installed in temporary accommodation in the Park Hotel, Frascati. Foundation stone for the new building is laid in September 1968

1967

8 September - ESOC inaugurated by then Minister of Research of the Federal Republic of Germany, Gerhard Stoltenberg

1968

17 May - Launch of ESRO 2B intended to study cosmic rays and solar X-rays, the first successful satellite launch by ESRO

1971

20 December - First Package Deal which permits ESRO to pursue application programmes comes into effect

1973

12 and 31 July - Second Package Deal: The European Space Conference (ESC) meeting in Brussels decides the start of three new programmes: Spacelab, L3S (Ariane) and MAROTS and the creation of the European Space Agency (ESA)

1975

30 May - Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany (Federal Republic), Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom sign the Convention on the establishment of ESA

9 August - Launch of COS-B, first ESA mission to study gamma-ray sources

31 December - Ireland signs the ESA Convention and becomes ESA's 11th Member State

1977

13 May - Establishment of the Eutelsat (European Telecommunications Satellite Organisation), an intergovernmental organisation by PTT administrations in Europe

23 November - Meteosat-1 is launched on a Thor Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral

1 January - Austria and Norway become ESA's 12th and 13th Member States

9-10 November - ESA Ministerial Council in The Hague: ministers approve the development of Ariane 5

1988

29 September - Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the design, and development of the Space Station Freedom signed by ESA and NASA in Washington

15 June - First Ariane 4 launched

1991

17 July - Launch of ERS-1

1995

1 January - Finland becomes ESA's 14th Member State

20 April - Launch of ERS-2

18-20 October - ESA Ministerial Council in Toulouse, France: ministers agree on the funding of Europe's contribution to the ISS

1996

4 June - Ariane 5's first test flight (Flight 501) fails and causes the loss of four Cluster spacecraft

1997

15 October - Cassini-Huygens launched from Cape Canaveral

1999

11-12 May - ESA Ministerial Council in Brussels which approved investments in major new programmes in the areas of telecommunications, navigation including the definition phase for the Galileo programme (in partnership with the European Union), and Earth observation

10 December - Launch of XMM-Newton by Ariane 5

15 December - Portugal signs Accession to ESA Convention

2000

14 November - Portugal becomes ESA's 15th Member State

15 December - Approval of the development of the small launcher Vega

2001

17 January - Greece signs Cooperation Agreement with ESA

21/22 March - ESA Council adopts Resolution on implementation of measures for European Cooperating States (ECS)

23 April - ESA astronaut Umberto Guidoni is first European to board the International Space Station (launched 19 April)

12 July - Launch of Artemis by Ariane 5

21 October - ESA astronaut Claudie Haigneré is first female European astronaut to fly to International Space Station

14/15 November - ESA Ministerial Council meeting in Edinburgh

2002

1 February - Brazil signs Cooperation Agreement with ESA

1 March - Launch of Envisat by Ariane 5

11 March - Argentina signs Cooperation Agreement with ESA

28 August - Launch of MSG-1 by Ariane 5

11 December - First launch of Ariane 5 ECA (failure)

2003

15 February - Last flight of an Ariane 4 after 116 flights

7 April - Hungary becomes first ESA European Cooperating State

2 June - Mars Express, Europe's first mission to the 'Red Planet', launched from Baikonur

27 September - SMART-1, Europe's first mission to the Moon, launched by Ariane 5

25 November - Signature of the Framework Agreement between ESA and the European Community in Brussels

2004

4 February - Approval of the programme to build a complex at the Guiana Space Centre for commercial Soyuz launches

2 March - Launch of Rosetta from Kourou

24 November - Czech Republic becomes second ESA European Cooperating State

25 November - First ESA/EU 'Space Council' in Brussels

2005

14 January - Historic landing of Huygens probe on Titan

12 February - First successful launch of Ariane 5 ECA

16 March - Greece becomes ESA's 16th Member State

30 June - Luxembourg becomes ESA’s 17th Member State

9 November - Venus Express launched from Baikonur on a Starsem Soyuz-Fregat launcher

21 October - Soyuz lifts off for first time from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, carrying two Galileo IOV satellites

21 November - ESA’s Council grants observer status to 10 states that are members of the EU but not ESA: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia.

2 December - ESA Ministerial Council in Luxembourg; Ministers approve the development of Ariane 6 and Vega C, the Europe’s space exploration strategy, covering ESA’s three destinations for exploration (LEO low-Earth orbit, Moon and Mars) and the ESA evolution, covering the vision for ESA until 2030

18 December - Jan Woerner appointed as ESA’s next Director General, succeeding Jean-Jacques Dordain for a period of four years starting on 1 July 2015

2015

4 February - Estonia becomes 21st ESA Member State

11 February - Launch of the experimental spaceplane IXV

24 February - Hungary becomes 22nd ESA Member State

28 March - Galileo 7-8 satellites launched on a Soyuz rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana

9 April - Bulgaria becomes 10th ESA European Cooperating State

23 June - Sentinel-2A launched from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana